The main reason that I am here writing this blog for you is so that I can help you guys. Yes! Guys that want to use VPS while saving a few bucks by not using cPanel should read this carefully. I have posted a number of tutorials like installing LAMP or LNMP on your VPS. But keep in mind that there was no control panel at all. Then I thought that you guys would also want to know about using free control panel on a VPS as an alternative to cPanel. So I started to write these tutorials.

For this purpose I have posted a few blogs and articles on how to install zPanel and ServerPilot. But while I was digging for something better I found Vesta CP. Vesta CP is a Russian made free web hosting control panel that offers with it a whole lot of awesomeness. Well, let’s make a comparison then shall we? zPanel might bring you all the necessary software set up which will include Apache, PHP5, MYSQL, PHPMyAdmin, FTP, Mail server and DNS. Vesta CP brings you something a whole lot brilliant. It contains almost all of the features that zPanel has and also Nginx and Varnish Cache out of the box.

If you want to manage your sites on VPS through a very clear and simple interface then there is no need to look any further. Vesta CP is the solution to your problem. Vesta CP prefers to removes extra elements instead of adding more elements to work with. Vesta CP was made keeping one goal in mind. That goal was improving the ergonomics of Vesta CP. The only way of doing that was by reducing unnecessary operations and movements. Vesta CP is all about using less. Because as we all know, less is more.

Vesta CP is an amazing Control Panel that is absolutely free. Vesta CP allows you to install all the necessary software (Apache, Nginx, PHP5, FTP, MySQL, DNS, etc) so that you r VPS can be ready to host websites. There is only one way with which you can upload, manage and organize your files on your server and that is by using FTP. Some people might prefer to use web based file manager than using FTP client. I am talking about those people who are already familiar with cPanel. cPanel is of course not a free control panel.

Vesta supports both RHEL flavored Linux releases (CentOS, Red Hat) and Ubuntu LTS 12.04 and Ubuntu 13.04. Vesta CP comes with all the software that is necessary to manage your websites which you host on your VPS. These include:

– Web Server (Apache with Nginx as Reverse Proxy)

– DNS server

– Database Server

– Mail Server

– FTP Server

– Nginx out of the box

– SSL certificates & SNI

– Wildcard support

– Configuration Templates

– DKIM support

– Fast Backups

– System Monitoring

– AntiSpam / Antivirus

– WHMCS billing support

– EPEL integration

– Simple and Clean GUI

– Powerful CLI

– Reliable Platform

– Open Data Format

Now that we have explained to you everything you need to know about Vesta CP, I will be sharing with you a very simple guide that includes multiple screenshots on how to install the free web based File explorer called Pydio on a VPS that is running Vesta CP. This tutorial has been made as clear as possible for you. You can follow each step without any hesitation because I have put with each step a screenshot of what will be happening.

About Pydio:

Pydio is an open source mature software solution made for file sharing and synchronization which was formerly known as AjaXplorer. Pydio brings intuitive user interfaces on wen, mobile and desktop. Providing enterprise grade features as to gain back control and privacy of your data. New additions like user directory connectors, comprehensive admin interface, legacy filesystem drivers and more. Vesta CP users have to manually install the AjaXplorer while it is already ported for zPanel.

PREREQUISITES:

You must be able to use Putty or terminal and or any similar SSh client app

You must know all the basics about the common Linux commands.

A VPS with Vesta CP installed on it

IINSTALLING PYDIO FILE MANAGER:Step-1:

You must login to your server as a user with root privilege or as root.

Step-2:

You need to define a public directory. This public directory will keep all the files of Pydio which you can access via internet on your browser.

mkdir -p /var/www/pydio

Step-3:

You now need to download Pydio files latest version from Pydio’s official download page. Download the file and save it to that directory. Click on the download link. Once the download dialog box appears go to the URL and copy the URL from there because you need not download it locally.

Step-4:

Now you need to go to the Pydio directory. Use the wget to grab the file:

Now you will see the Pydio Diagnostic Tool. When you check it, you will see that everything is running perfectly. One or two warning messages are fine. Now click on the “Click here to continue to Pydio” link. You will now be redirected to this page:

CONFIGURING PYDIOStep-11:

Click on the “Start Wizard” link:

Step-12:

You will have to answer a series of questions so that you may setup your Pydio installation which includes Admin login and password:

Step-13:

You will now click on global options and adjust accordingly. For now I’m not going to change anything.

Step-14:

You will now click on the “Configurations Storage”. Database should be chose as storage type and all the necessary fields should be filled.

Step-15:

If you want to add more users, just click on the “Add some users”:

Step-16:

You are now ready to install Pydio. Click on the Install Pydio Now and you should be able to see the success message:

Step-17:

Now you will automatically be redirected to the login page:

Step-18:

Select a workspace in your first time login:

That is the basic configuaration and installation of Pydio. I will not be showing you the advanced settings of Pydio in this tutorial. For that you can check Pydio’s official documentation page.